


Familiar Taste of Poison

by Revakah



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Angst, Brainwashing, Castellan restraints, Hurt No Comfort, Mind Control, SWTOR reference, Suicide, Unhappy Ending, relationship mentioned but this is not romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:22:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28391613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Revakah/pseuds/Revakah
Summary: The Ascendancy will use whichever tools it must to remove threats, and Mitth'raw'nuruodo is dangerous. A human in the Defence Force is also a risk.(Very AU ending for Treason).
Relationships: Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo/Eli Vanto
Comments: 19
Kudos: 26





	Familiar Taste of Poison

**Author's Note:**

> So. This story.
> 
> I've been playing SWTOR again, and certain aspects of the Imperial Agent storyline wouldn't leave me alone. Then I started thinking "what if my loyal Chiss agent took the secrets of Castellan Restraints back to the Ascendancy?" and well, here we are. 
> 
> Castellan restraints were a form of brainwashing used in the Sith Empire, where a person could be controlled by means of an implanted code-word. While under the influence of the code-word, the person being controlled was fully aware of what was happening but powerless to resist. 
> 
> (Also I was listening to Halestorm which is where the title came from)
> 
> Heed the tags.

Eli is alone when his comm chimes, and he will never regret anything more than he regrets answering that call.

“Keyword: Nostophobia. Activate protocol: Martyr”. 

Nothing else is said. 

He has his orders.

_ no. no. no. not like this. please, i don’t want to. please. _

* * *

It was already arranged. HIs friends and allies among the officers are busy, distracted; and the Ascendancy’s intelligence agencies know their work. It’s far too easy to slip away, even once he’s aboard the Chimaera it’s far too easy to walk through once-familiar corridors and arrive at always-familiar rooms.

_ ask me ask me why i’m here stop me please help me _

Thrawn looks...worn. He’s cunning and clever and commanding as ever but he’s been serving two masters with two conflicting goals for a long time now and it’s obviously taken its toll. He seems brittle, tired in a way that suggests he’s sleeping but not resting- Eli knows he’s never liked sleeping alone, and a tiny hopeless part of him is relieved that he won’t have to see Thrawn ever look worse than this. 

_ i'm sorry i'm sorry love i didn’t want to thrawn please notice please _

It’s hard to ignore the way that Thrawn brightens when he sees him, offers only a token protest when Eli offers him the bottle of  _ gana’sia _ (but it’s Thrawn’s favourite, he knows Thrawn is touched he remembered), the way his throat works as he swallows, the smile he can’t quite hide. They lean against one another as they talk, making the most of their too-short time together. Their fingers brush as they pass the bottle back and forth, like so many times before, and Eli’s heart shatters a little more with every passing second.

_ sorry _

Not long now.

Thrawn doesn’t even seem to realise anything is amiss, even as his words begin to slur and his Basic slips back into Cheunh. He doesn’t resist when Eli pulls him down, arranging him so that Thrawn’s head is in his lap and Eli can stroke gentle fingers through his hair as he drains the rest of the bottle dry. 

_ i’m with you. i’m by your side, like i should be _

Thrawn’s words trail into silence. His breathing slows, slows, slows.

Stops.

Eli’s own vision is darkening, he thinks he’s still stroking Thrawn’s hair but he can’t feel his fingers, everything is heavy and slow but there are things he has to say. Has to say, before

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, they put a word in my head and I couldn't- I couldn’t fight it but I can be here, I’m here with you I’ve got you I love you I’m sorry...I’m...”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading 💜
> 
> (Nostophobia is repugnance or dislike of the past, the antithesis of nostalgia)


End file.
